I wanted a small, high-contrast light source for close-up photography. What I decided on was making a snoot.
A snoot simply cuts off diverging light from a source to give darker and more sharp shadows. It's effect is similar to that of a spotlight but there is more light loss, while a spotlight increases brightness as it is focused to more of a spot.
I cemented three layers of photo mounting board together that were cut to fit over the lens of my flash. Then I cut a 1/4" diameter hole in the center of the stack. Next, I hot glued a length of 1/4" acrylic rod into the hole. This gave me a small diameter light source. For the snoot, I slipped a length of black electrical tubing over the rod. The tubing was a bit longer than the tubing.
This is a photo of the finished snoot. I simply attach it to the flash with a pair of rubber bands.
Here is a photo of common Toadflax lit from the back quarter using the snoot.
Jim
Simple snoot for close-ups
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Very creative Jim,and I reckon you have a very high contrast light source there,great for art shots at a low magnification as in your toadflax shot!
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope